Kelowna killer should only get 4 years: defence

Tyler Newton waved to his family when he entered the courtroom Thursday, one step closer to finding out how long the 25-year-old will spend in jail for manslaughter.

Defence lawyer Jordan Watt began to build his case on behalf of his client, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter in the death of Caesar Rosales.

Watt said the killer had an “unfortunate” upbringing that played a part in the stabbing death of Rosales on Oct. 30, 2014.

“He’s battled and struggled with addiction at an early age and that’s influenced his involvement in the criminal justice system and that’s certainly a factor that has influenced his offence,” the lawyer said outside Kelowna Law Courts.

Newton started smoking marijuana regularly at the age of 11 or 12, according to Watt, and soon moved on to “harder drugs.”

By 15, he was already on his way to being addicted to cocaine, crack and heroine. Ten years later, Newton is addicted to numerous substances, including crystal meth and GHB.

After he was arrested on Oct. 24, 2014, Newton was interviewed by forensic psychiatrist Kulwant Riar who said at the time of the stabbing Newton was in a drug-induced psychosis, which started before he OD’d leading up to the incident, and lasted after he was taken into custody.

“He did not appreciate the consequences of his actions and was certainly acting under hallucinations and delusions and unorganized thoughts,” said Watt.

At least three days before the stabbing, Watt said Newton heard voices telling him to do evil things. When he was subsequently arrested, he believed the police were working for the devil.

Newton grew up in Kelowna and at a young age was diagnosed with ADHD. He only made it to Grade 10 and worked in fast food, construction and roofing.

According to Watt, Newton became involved in criminal activity to support his substance abuse.

His convictions, which Crown prosecutor Colin Forsyth said on Wednesday add up to about 50, are completely consistent with a person facing drug addictions and who is “entrenched” in that sub-culture, according to Watt.

A point that he has strongly emphasized in court is that none of the crimes Newton was charged for are classified as violent, and none of them were serious enough for him to spend more than nine or 10 months in jail.

This will be Newton’s first federal offence and Watt said his client is struggling, facing a serious conviction and the possibility of a lengthy sentence.

Crown counsel has already made it clear it wants Newton to get at least 10 years, something Watt told Justice Heather Holmes he thinks is excessive. Instead, he presented examples of sentences of between three and five years.

“Despite the fact that he has a history, this is not his type of behaviour and he’s very remorseful to the victim and the victim’s family. He’s scared,” said Watt.

The court won’t get to hear this from Newton until the end of sentencing, but through his interview, Watt said his remorse became clear, and the young man has taken steps at overcoming his addictions during the last 602 days he’s spent in jail, which both the Crown and Watt have agreed should be subtracted from his sentence.

“I’m huge believer in rehabilitation and I’m even more of a believer in rehabilitation when you have a young person,” said Watt. “It’s a very tragic case. You’ve got one person’s life that’s lost and another that’s going to spend a significant part of his life in custody.

“Hopefully, he can deal with that so we won’t ever see him before the courts again.”